Gunmen killed at least 40 residents of Angwa Rukuba in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau State, on Sunday evening.
The armed attackers, whose identity many residents cannot describe with certainty, were said to have entered the area through Gariyawaye Junction at about 8 pm on Palm Sunday, arriving on motorcycles to wreak havoc on residents.
A resident, who asked not to be named, said that the armed men announced their entry into Angwa Rukuba by attacking some residents with machetes, leading people to initially believe it was a cult-related attack.
However, as the assault progressed, sporadic gunfire followed. According to the source, some residents initially thought the ear-splitting sounds were fireworks, but this assumption changed as the intensity increased and the noise persisted.
“It later became so intense that many people in shops, including market women around Angwa, were hit by bullets. In the process, the gunmen killed Pharmacist Chinedu, the owner of a shop here in Angwa,” the resident said.
The resident said the attack followed an earlier incident in which some young men in the Angwa Rukuba area attacked Fulani residents in the community. In response, the gunmen, whom some residents suspect to be of Fulani origin, retaliated.
“Some people attacked residents of the Angwa Rukuba area some time ago. In response, youths in the area attacked some Fulani people, believing that the initial aggressors were Fulani,” he said.
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“Now, people have attacked our area, although I cannot say if they are Fulani. I only know that they are armed.”
After the attack, residents initially counted 14 deaths, but as of Monday morning, aside from those injured and now receiving treatment in the hospital, FIJ gathered that the death toll had risen to as many as 40.
In response to the unfortunate incident, the Plateau State Government imposed a 48-hour curfew on Jos North LGA, effective from midnight on March 29 to April 1, 2026.
The state’s Commissioner for Information, Joyce Ramnap, announced that the measure was taken in collaboration with security agencies to restore order following the attack.
Plateau State police spokesperson, Alfred Alabo, could not be reached on Monday for comments on whether any arrests have been made, as a call to his line went unanswered, and messages sent to him via WhatsApp and SMS had not been responded to.
